Chapter 9: A Mission Gone Wrong
Sasuke's POV
The strong pungent smell of musk and wrought iron saturated the abattoir he and his comrades had entered. The destination was at an abandoned edifice off the borderline of Rain, resembling a circular-like fortress, three stories high and supposedly, a basement of freezer storages. Apparently, Sasuke received intel that there was going to be a 'gentleman's meeting,' aka where only men gather to entertain the idea of ladies, or in layman's terms, make profit off women.
Geared in their combat suit and boots, both he and Naruto turned on their night vision goggles, while Kiba took to patrolling the outer perimeter of the building and acting as backup. Conveniently, the building seemed to have been broken into already, giving them access inside easily. Entering, they crept with stealth, careful not to alert any suspicion that they were on a mission to take down their target.
'Not gonna lie, Uchiha, thought the trunk was my death bed, but now I see why you did it. Over.' Came Kiba's voice with a crackle.
On a dark and raw night as this, Sasuke reckoned the temperature would be just as frigid as taking a dip in the Arctic, his colleagues should be a little grateful of his keen observation and experiences in unconventional situations such as this.
Once they reached the foyer, Sasuke spotted the emergency staircase leading to the upper floors. "Naruto, take the two top floors. I'll search the main floor and find the basement. Radio in anything suspicious." Sasuke ordered.
Naruto nodded, disappearing behind the doors, leaving Sasuke to venture further into the common area. Five office cubicles lined both sides of the central lobby, emptied except for the mess cluttering the ground. It was as if a typhoon had crashed in and knocked down bookshelves and machineries, breaking windows and scattering debris everywhere. Sounds of the howling night didn't help Sasuke's situation either as it made his surroundings more eerie and cold.
'If I didn't know better, I'd mistake this building for a morgue.' Naruto radioed in. 'So much space. Less machinery than I expected there would be.'
'Well it is an abandoned slaughterhouse, idiot.' Kiba's voice came through.
'I know that!' Naruto sneered, 'But, even so, there's just something off about this place.'
'Sounds about right.' Sasuke emitted back, rounding a pillar and decking under a fallen archway. 'Now, focus, boys.'
'Ten-four.' And all was quiet again. The deeper Sasuke wandered in, the colder the atmosphere became. Finally, as he reached the opposite end of the warehouse, Sasuke heard a noise - a screech of terror that almost overlapped Kiba's report, 'Incoming voices. Crud, I think I've been spotted, over.'
Planting himself to the wall, Sasuke eyed his surroundings, listening keenly to the rats running the drains behind the walls, the broken pipes dripping residue, and the distant sounds of footsteps that seemed to be coming closer. He wasn't alone.
'Incoming on my end, too. Be ready, boys.' The radio cackled in unison to a sudden abnormality in the air creating a staticity spark that lit at the end of the empty hall Sasuke was in. What was that? Creeping closer, Sasuke pulled out a mirror from his vest and peeled his attention to what he saw in the reflection. As bizarre as it seemed, what he saw was no party mongers.
But a group of tourists in party gowns!
Did he get the meeting spot wrong? This couldn't be right, why were there tourists at this place and time of night?
Sasuke stepped out, his silhouette blending in with the shadows of the moon phasing through the broken window.
'There's a situation.' Sasuke mumbled into his radio. 'Dope, have you found the targets? Over.'
Suddenly, a girly scream ripped through the walls which then turned into a burst of nervous laughter. Sasuke frowned, inching closer.
'Dope, do you read me? Over.'
'Can you be any louder?' Naruto exclaimed, a rustling heard in the background. 'Negative, no sign of the targets. Over.'
The boisterous laughter continued to get closer. Within range, two females approached and Sasuke could hear what the deal was.
"Karen, are we there yet?"
"Barely. Just down that elevator shaft."
"That's where it is?"
"That's what I was told."
Who told what to them? Sasuke wondered.
"How did you come across this event?"
"Some hot guy at a club invited me. Told me to bring friends."
"And you listened to him?"
"What's with the questions, June?" Karen snapped, "No need to get your panties in a twist. Besides, if you're scared, you can turn your little hiney around and go back home."
"What? And miss this? No way!" June started. "What do you suppose is down there?"
"Ghosts," Karen said, proceeding to make silly boo-ing sounds and chasing her friend back to their group.
Sasuke glared at the absence where the two girls were headed. He wondered if his intel misheard and got the location mixed up or these girls were in a world of trouble. Deciding to find out for himself, he'll have to tail behind the group.
Sakura's POV
"A proposal?" Lee copied; eyes widened in disbelief. Sakura could only imagine what was going on in his mind right now. He probably thought she was asking for a marriage proposal, in spite of the interrelations he had with her family—not that she could blame him, it wasn't his fault that he was adopted into the Might's family. But all the more reason to present him this proposal. This could definitely benefit him in the end.
Sakura should just get to the chase and get this over with. Being there in the garden she planted was not a pleasant memory. She remembered the terrible ache in her hands after plowing the soil, the prick of weeds she grounded with her hands, and the hot sun beating down on her shoulders. She remembered the laughter her father's students produced from the dojo, succession blossoming and her father's approval raining down on their performance. But not her. No, his attention to her garden, to her labor was nothing but a blindspot. She gritted her teeth and nodded.
"What's the occasion, may I ask?" Lee pounced towards her, his hands locked tightly and his eyes dazzling with wonder. If it wasn't for his bushy eyebrows that was the sole of her focus, she'd have looked away.
"No occasion," Sakura said. "I just… wanted to make amends."
At this, Lee brightened as he declared his gratitude towards her with the utmost glee in his tone. "I'm very touched that you wanted to see me of all people. I hoped to see you once again after your unfortunate dispute with your father. This is a happy day! We must celebrate with din-"
"Rock Lee," Sakura intervened, holding up a hand to silence him. His mouth hung open, words left unsaid as his gaze followed the next words that left her lips. "This is important. Please listen."
"Okay, Sakura." The young man unwinded, expressing pensiveness in his now unrelented fixation.
Sitting up straight, Sakura licked her bottom lip and began. "As you know, my father wants me to inherit his dojo. However, I've no clue how to manage a dojo since I've not once stepped inside. Besides, I've seen you train beside my father. You've grown to be sturdy and a decisive person. So, I'm proposing that you take the lead in my stead."
If Lee overtakes the dojo and becomes her father's prodigy, this will be a pedestal for Lee to be welcomed further into the Might clan. They may even accept him as their own since he was technically born out of wedlock.
"How unfortunate." Lee began, a weak smile on his lips. Sakura noticed that it didn't meet his eyes. "I'm beguiled that you think of me so fondly. But Sakura, I don't understand. You're throwing away your sense of duty."
"Not throwing, giving." Sakura pointed out, leaning back on the railing. Then she mumbled, "I was hoping for a better response."
"Do you not want the dojo? Your father is passing down something of significance that has brought joy to others and even made a difference in their lives. As much as I'd love to see your lovely presence every chance I get during training, and how much admiration I have for the garden you've built, I just can't see you throw it… give it away so easily! You've worked harder than any girl I know, Sakura."
She bet she was the only girl he knew of outside of his clan. Sakura huffed in frustration; Lee was not getting it. If he were to inherit the dojo, the Mights would be closer to the Harunos than ever! He'd be practically family and seeing how Lee has adored her since childhood, wouldn't he accept this proposal without a hitch? Why was he hesitating now?
Sasuke's POV
He was right to trail the group, specifically the two females that happened to disappear among them. They had meandered their way down a set of stairs until they reached an elevator shaft.
Sasuke stayed nearby just in case they ended up in danger. He didn't want their blood on his hands knowing he could've saved them, as suspicious as they might seem. Karin, with the seemingly red hair and glasses, grinned and pointed at the other side of the elevator doors, where a light glowed through the edges. Suspicious.
"In there!" Karin exclaimed proudly.
June didn't sound the least bit happy to jump over a broken, elevator shaft that could collapse at any moment - to get to whatever's on the other side. Sasuke bet she felt queasy, unknowingly to her what could possibly wait for them behind that door.
"Ugh, it stinks! Is there another way in?"
"Well duh, it used to be a meat warehouse! Come on, June!" Karin laughed, pulling open the double doors. "Stop being such a baby and pull yourself together. I know you can do it."
Sasuke moved with such quick momentum that he was prepared to catch June if needed. Luckily, she made it to the other side safely in the arms of her friend. However, he was unable to dodge Karin's attention as he crouched back into the shadows.
"Huh, who's that?" Karin asked aloud.
"Who's what?" June jumped with a hint of fright in her tone.
"Right behind you."
"Karin, I swear, if you're messing with me, I'll push you down this elevator." June shot.
Karin rubbed her eyes and looked around, then brushed her query off. "Ah, it's probably nothing. Trick of the light, maybe?"
"Come on or else we won't make it."
"Yeah," Karin mumbled, looking around again. "Coming."
Once the coast was clear, Sasuke radioed in. 'Any trace of the targets, dope?'
'Negative, teme. I've checked the second and third floor, no target in sight. Over.'
'Okay, meet me on ground zero on the east wing. Over.'
'Ten four. Did you find any suspicious activity on your end? Over.'
'Affirmative. A group of tourists on a ghost tour. Two suspicious females have left the group for a different agenda. Might need backup. Over.' Sasuke surveyed, turning off his goggles and proceeding to cross the shaft with caution and walked through the double doors.
What he thought was a bright light earlier derived from a generator sitting in the middle of the foyer. Just like the lobby above, the central chamber was a mess. It reminded Sasuke of Konohagakure's own Intelligence Division, but worse, a mental asylum. A shuffle sound was heard behind him as Naruto made his way across the shaft.
"Gosh, teme, you could've warned me you'd leave a cloud behind!" Naruto grumbles, waving away the awful gas fermenting from the elevator.
Sasuke glared, punching Naruto in the arm. "It wasn't me."
Naruto looked around, letting out a low whistle as he took it all in. He too wished there was some sort of blueprint Kakashi could have given them. This was no ordinary abattoir; in fact, there was no freezer storage in sight. Just rows and rows of barrack-like cells on each side of the wide room.
With a show of Naruto's fingers, he gestured to stay against the walls and keep quiet. Did he hear something? Heeding his cue, out of the blue, a nasally voice sluiced through the corridor, alerting both him and Naruto to draw their guns. With fingers on the trigger, ready to shoot if threatened, Naruto stepped away from him and dashed across the hall. Following suit the way he came, he peered around the corner and sought out an older man with bloody scratches across his face - emerging from one of the dungeon cells - dragging two limp bodies, one of which Sasuke recognized off the bat. It was that redheaded girl, moaning as if she had been drugged. Her friend remained limp, seemingly dazed from the high they were given.
"How dare you make a mockery of me!?"
Karin clawed the man's arm, demanding to be released.
"You're dead meat!" He slammed her against the wall, her head knocking against metal. He grinned as she groaned on the ground, dizzy from the impact. "How convenient that this is a meat factory."